It’s exciting to finally share a more complete update to a project I began last month: the Explorer’s Log.
The Explorer’s Log grew out of frustrations I encountered during time I spent with Starfield over the past couple of years. I always found it challenging to keep track of my discoveries, places I wanted to visit, places I had scouted for outposts etc. I tried spreadsheet, apps and written journals but I couldn’t really find what I was looking for. With the announcement revealing new content for Starfield, I figured it was time to put some effort into creating something of my own that I actually enjoy using. After a few weeks, I ended up with The Explorer’s Log.
The Explorer’s Log is still very much a work in progress. Although I’ve created it so it can easily be adapted for other games, the initial “edition” is specifically aimed at Starfield explorers. As such, the Explorer’s Log – Starfield Edition will let you record the following:
- Systems
- Level, exploration status, general notes.
- All planetary bodies of a system can be added directly here and then followed up in the Planets section later.
- System image
- Planets
- Parent system, planet type and body category (planet, moon, asteroid)
- Environmental data such as temperature, atmosphere, magnetosphere etc.
- Resources
- Basic Flora/Fauna survery progress
- Multiple images
- Points of Interests
- System and Planet location
- Type of POI and visited status
- General notes and images
- Quests
- Basic quest information
- Objectives and rewards
- Ships
- Ship configuration
- Crew
- Weapons, mods and ship stats
- Cargo manifest
- General notes and images
- Outposts
- System and Planet location
- Production flows
- Infrastructure data
- General notes and images
- Inventory items
- Location information
- Risk level information
- Contraband flag
- General notes and images
- People
- General character information such as faction, status, affinity level
- General notes and images
- Diary
- Location information (System and Planet)
- Quest (if applicable)
- Importance flag
- General notes and images
- New game+
- General notes and images related to your NG character run
Many of these are inter-connected. For example, you can select where an inventory item is stored. You can determine where Outposts are built. Planets belong to systems. POIs are tied to planets and systems and so on.
You can also upload images from your travels. Found a particularly beautiful spot on a distant planet? Add a screenshot to that planet or add a POI for that planet so that you can more easily find it later.
One important note: although I recommend you create an account to get the most out of the app, it’s not required. However, please be aware of the following limitations:
Unregistered users data is saved within the browser itself, which means that you cannot use the same data with multiple browsers, unless you export and import the recorded data. Also, you won’t be able to upload images, although you can link to images stored elsewhere on the Web. Data can be exported and reimported elsewhere.
Registered users don’t have to worry about either of those limitations.
I’ll also add that there are several aspects of the app that still need work. The Outposts section in particular is rough, primarily because I didn’t get around to playing around with Outposts that much when I played most recently so I’m not super familiar with those. Also, the available data in some dropdowns may not match exactly what’s in game, but I’ll be refining this in the weeks ahead.
One other thing to keep in mind: Explorer’s Log is very much in a beta stage at this point and not fully baked. I can guarantee that there will be bugs and future updates could break things although I’ll do my best to prevent that from happening.
I’d love to get your thought on the app so far. Feel free to use the feedback form below for but reports, suggestions and other feedback.
Like I mentioned, I’ve created the Explorer’s Log to be a framework that can handle other RPG games as well. Games like No Man’s Sky, Oblivion, Fallout, Crimson Desert, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and so on shouldn’t be a problem to include in the future. I expect these to be available at some point in the future, with a focus on the games I already own myself. All of the ones just mentioned (except Crimson Desert) I already own so I’m more likely to tackle those first. Of course, if you have thoughts on what would be best, let me know!
More to come in the weeks ahead!
Full disclosure: The Explorer’s Log is a vibe-coded application initially put together over a period of about three weeks through the use of OpenAI’s Codex as well as Claude.